Skill Checkup: A 70-Year-Old Man With Loss of Smell, Dry Cough, and Headache

Because the patient's age and weight, as well as preexisting diabetes and hypertension, put him at high risk for COVID-19 hospitalization, antiviral therapy would be an appropriate treatment option in this case. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on COVID-19 strongly recommend that patients at high risk of progressing to severe disease should take up a course of ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir (paxlovid). The WHO also offers a weaker recommendation for remdesivir or molnupiravir. While the WHO previously recommended mAbs, sotrovimab, and casirivimab-imdevimab for patients at high risk for COVID-19 progression, these agents are no longer recommended.

Based on these recommendations, the patient begins a 5-day course of ritonavir-boosted nirmatrelvir.

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Cite this: Enrico Brunetti. Skill Checkup: A 70-Year-Old Man With Loss of Smell, Dry Cough, and Headache - Medscape - Nov 07, 2022.